Handsome, well spoken his heart can't be broken
by AsianOne
Summary: [I accidently deleted this story and had to repost. Sorry.] She's locked away in the basement for a reason. [AU, NejiSaku]Dedicted to KAITOU ANGEL
1. Chapter 1

**Handsome, well spoken; his heart can't be broken**

_**IMPORTANT NOTE:**_

**_I accidenty deleted this fic. So I'm reposting it. I don't know where the second chappie went but I found the first. I CAN'T believe I deleted it! fuck! I'm really angry at myself. Sorry for any trouble this caused. If you reviewed/ put this on your favorites/alerts/ whatever. I REALLY AM! So um yeah. Really sorry._**

_Disclaimer: The title is from Scarling's Alexander the Burn Victim. And obviously I don't own Naruto. _

_Christian has told me that it's scary. Christian has told me it's not healthy. But as far as I'm concerned, just this once: FUCK WHAT CHRISTIAN HAS TO SAY. Sorry, Chrisshi, but I have to say it. I know people will like it. Okay, so in all the fics I've read in my lifetime there have been emo ninjas. Like **a lot **of people tend to make Gaara emo. Sakura emo, Neji emo. Every one is all emo and I have nothing against the emos or anything but really! Have some creativity, guys! So I'm pretty much fed up with it. Which is why, now I'm making an:_

_EMO CHOUJI!_

_How often is CHOJI emo? I have never read a fic where Chouji is emo. I don't know why but I think it's really fitting. Just imagine the fat goth guy that goes to your school who denies his obesity and wears the same leather biker jacket even in 90 degree weather who's all sweaty even in the winter (I love irony)and the nearly-popping off the studded dog collar around his almost disappearing neck and plaster Chouji's face on there! And there ya have it peeps! An emo Chouji!_

_I almost was going to make an emo Lee (which certainly hasn't been done yet) but I figured the black jumpsuit's not his style. So um yeah this is probably going to be one of those I don't update a lot fics. Read and review please!_

He had everything a straight woman could want. He was the ideal husband you dreamed about after watching Pretty Woman for the umpteenth time. He had the kind of look that said: let's-get-married-I'll-be-a-fireman-and-you'll-be-a-succecful-movie-star-and-we'll-live-next-door-to-your-best-friend-in-a-mansion-near-Martha's-vineyard-and-have-a-bunch-of-well-behaved-and-healthy-kids.

He came from a respectable enough family, has serious class, manners, strong beliefs, a new car, and a steady well paying job. If looks could kill he'd be able to make people immortal with a quick glance. He was just that hot. Long, straight, flowing, perfect, not-one-flyaway coffee colored hair graced his perfect milky white complexion, as smooth and as perfect as glass. But his best feature isn't his toned abs, rock solid biceps, or even his strong, broad chest. It was his eyes that make you do that double take. The color of pearl. Almost translucent, like you could see right through them, straight to his brains, straight in to his thoughts. But his eyes show nothing. No emotion. Just pearl colored emptiness. But that added all the more to his rugged sexiness.

There was only one more thing that made him the ultimate dream come true.

He's single.

Yes, you heard correctly. This hunk of man is single. Single as in not dating anyone, and not dating anyone as in not setting a foot near a woman unless it involved his job. But why? Why was a guy so perfect single? Waiting for you to come sweep him off his feet and fulfill your every Disney-induced fantasy? Che. Hardly.

But why?

Now that's a question every woman he met that was anywhere near sane asked herself over and over again until that was the first thing she thought when she woke up in the morning. Why is someone so perfect single? I could probably write a book on it with 'total selfish jackass' as the number one reason. But a spot on the best seller list seemed unlikely.

When they see him they see a God in front of their eyes. Of course, it doesn't help that he adopts the holier-than-thou attitude when he realizes people are in awe of him. His name is Neji Hyuuga. Lord Hyuuga to the girls that worship him like a freaking idol. They shower him with lavish gifts. They wait on him, hand and foot. They would bow down to him too but they're afraid their mortal presence is aimed to displease. This goes on until some way or another they find out about his occupation. You can try to guess. You'll almost never get it.

Personal fitness trainer?

Male model?

GQ cover man?

No to all the above answers. No to any other answers. No, especially to porn star. I know you were thinking it, you can come clean with it. I did too. But sadly, no, Neji isn't a porn star and really isn't likely to come out with a internet release starring along side Paris Hilton anytime soon. You know why? Neji is a mortician. He prepares dead people for their descent to the great journey of being stuffed in to a wooden box and being shoved in to a 7 foot hole underground. Porn star? It still makes me laugh too.

So there you have it. A damn good reason for his single-ness. Now, these fan girls may come across as weird but I don't think they particularly liked the way he handled his job. Is job even the right word? No, passion may even begin to cover it. Neji was _obsessed_ with his job. His vehicle of choice? A hearse. Favorite pass time? Double overtime at his job. Favorite place? The morgue. It's really a shame. It seems that all the hot ones have a little more than their fair share of mental problems.

For most of her life, as soon as she turned 13, her mother hid her from the world. In her basement, she locked her only daughter away like a prisoner. The poor girl was alone for her nearly seven years. Well, not completely. Her mother sent her little brother (by 11 months), Ryusuke down two times a day to give her daily meals. Her mother never came down herself. I doubt she even knew if her daughter was alive or not.

Everyone thought she was living properly in the 'real world', not in a basement. Her mother made for sure no one knew anything about my disappearance. She faked Ryusuke's death and made him live his life as her older sister, Sakura. Why would a mother lock her daughter in a basement for eight years and have her son, who bore a striking resemblance to Sakura, masquerade as her?

Well, my personal opinion is that she's fucking nuts.

But her mothers reasoning was that her oldest daughter was evil. She saw some kind of evil in her daughter that the rest of the world couldn't. Apparently, by locking her away from all other forms of life it would chase the evil away. She hadn't seen anything but those four walls for all of her life, not the sun, not the sky, nothing anyone would associate with normality. That was all about to change. Soon she'd see the sky, the sun. And even more.

"I'll take it." Neji said firmly to the fat guy who looked suspiciously like Santa Claus. He looked like he belonged in a mall letting fat kids pee on his lap and whisper names of Transformer action figures in his ear rather than a successful real estate agent. Neji resisted the urge to ask him why he didn't get that Tonka truck for Christmas when he was 5. After all, he was still a tad bitter about it.

"I just have to warn you the place might need a few...er... renovations." Santa sheepishly grinned as glass from a large window fell out of its pane and shattered in to a million pieces when it hit the ground.

Neji shrugged. The place was a perfect. He couldn't believe he found a place so fast since the fire that destroyed his work place was just a few weeks a go. And this place was even better. A morgue and a house in one. It had Neji's dream house written in bold all over it. Just add the moat and snapping turtles then call MTV because Crib's ratings are gonna go through the roof. Please note the sarcasm. Neji sighed a little as Santa drove away. Sled and reindeer aren't exactly the fastest ways to get around he supposed. Why spend money on carrots for those reindeer when you can be parading around in a Subaru that chugs $4.00 a gallon gas like a dehydrated man just back from the desert? He sighed again a bit louder. Where were his friends! They were supposed to be at his new house an hour a go. Then again, knowing those morons probably got lost or something equally or more stupid than that. Neji started walking back toward the front door. He was already planning what he was going to say to the idiots. He stopped abruptly in his tracks.

'What the hell was that?' he asked himself. Mr. Claus didn't say anything about rabid creatures. Did he? There the noise was again. It was louder now. It sounded like it was coming from the basement. If it was a rabid squirrel who was going to try and eat his face off, so be it. His house had to be perfect. Even if he wasn't there to enjoy it. The heavy front door swung open.

"Hey Neji! Sorry we're late. someone got us lost." A blonde haired boy said while looking at a hoodie-clad boy in mock anger, a small, mischievous smile danced its way across his lips.

Neji rolled his eyes. Why were they his friends again?

"Naruto! You said take a left at the next right! We got confused and then lost because of you! Duh!" The hoodie boy shot back.

"Stop your bitching, Kiba." Another boy told him, sighing as his bushy high ponytail swayed with every shake of his head. Neji forgot all about the strange noise; whatever it was, it couldn't be worse than Naruto, Kiba, and Shikamaru having an argument. Their arguments are enough to make plants shrivel up and die on the spot. They were that stupid and pointless. Once, while in the midst of a argument much like this one Neji actually stopped asking himself why they were his friends and took the time out to appreciate the joys of contemplating suicide.

Kiba suddenly stopped talking, "did you guys hear that?"

Naruto hacked a loogy in a empty urn which earned an I'm-going-to-kill-you look from Neji, "what?" he said, ignoring Neji's warning glare.

Everyone and everything suddenly became silent. Neji's eyes widened. The noise was there, louder and clearer than ever.

"That" Kiba said.

"I think it may be coming from the basement." Shikamaru said quietly.

"Well, let's go down there." Neji urged.

"Whoa. Wait a minute Indiana Jones, this place is creepy. It could possibly be haunted or what if it's something dangerous? What if I get hurt? What if I die?" Naruto squealed.

Neji rolled his eyes. The thought of Naruto getting hurt or getting killed, oh the horror. What would we do without Naruto? Probably find the cure to Cancer and save the Polar Bears.

"Pussy" Neji scoffed. He wasn't really all that thrilled that he was being compared with the likes of Harrison Ford. Han Solo, Neji is not and Yoda speak isn't a language he's fluent in.

"You go down and look then, if you're so brave. There's nothing wrong with valuing your life." Naruto whined.

"I will" Neji said, calmly. He started to walk but realized no one was following his lead.

"The lot of you are fucking pussies" he turned around and added for good measure, "fucking pussies."

"Keep on walking cowboy," Kiba commanded, "just find the source of that horrible sound."

They all followed, a good distance behind Neji as he opened the door of the basement and walked down the few stairs leading down. When he reached the bottom and blindly smacked his forehead against something he thought to be a wall, he didn't expect it to turn out to be a door.

Neji swore. "Who the fuck puts a door at the end of stairs!"

"Neji, are you alright?" Naruto called down, acting brave but using Shikamaru and Kiba as bodyguards.

Neji grunted. He tried the handle on the door, half knowing it wouldn't work.

"Shit, it's fucking locked" he huffed under his breath as he pounded on the door, like it would help.

"What was that?" Naruto said.

"There's a door here and it's fucking locked!" He called back.

"Can you get me out?" A small voice from inside the room squeaked.

Neji looked completely shocked for the first time in his life. Did the door say that? For some reason or another it didn't seem likely.

_Kind of a cliffie! Uh well I hope you enjoyed it; it's short and kind of a prolouge. Please review._


	2. Chapter 2

**Handsome, well spoken; his heart can't be broken**

_Still REALLY mad I deleted it. Oh God I just want to Grrrr! Well,I finally found it. Thanks for reviewing again if you did. I appreciate it. So um here's the second chapter. The third will come soon, I think. _

She had been completely on her own for nine days, since her brother last left her food, since her brother last saw her, since her brother left. She's not angry, really. She couldn't blame Ryusuke. He didn't have the key so for now he couldn't get her out but she believed him when he promised her he'd come back with a way out for her that he had things to do first. It couldn't have been easy for him to have to hide who he really was for so long, having to pretend to be a girl, his own sister.

So she found herself sitting on the basement floor, debating with herself on whether she was evil or not - if that was the reason she wasn't allowed outside, in the real world. She held these conversations in her head; she never let them come out aloud.

_You're an animal, that's why you're in a cage, so you don't escape and hurt people. Can't you see, Sakura? You are evil._

You're evil.

_Same thing, love. If I'm evil you are too. And this conversation just proves you're crazy as well._

No I'm not, stop being mean.

_If you think I'm mean, wait until you get out into the real world again._

You think I'll ever get out?

_Stop being so oblivious and listen properly. There are people up there._

But Ryusuke left - he left me here by myself, without food, and we're so hungry now.

_Yes we are._

Do you think I can get those people up there to help me?

_Try. Try and maybe we'll be free again soon._

She looked around her 'room'.

What was there really to get people's attention?

The chair.

And that's how it all started. It started with a voice in her head telling her what to do and a chair. She banged on the door with her soggy-but-nonetheless solid chair for over an hour until they noticed her. And that's why Neji and his friends were huddled around the basement door trying to talk to the strange person behind it.

"Can you help me get out?" The voice repeated.

Neji gulped, "Yeah. I think I can."

Half an hour later, now sitting on a chair Shikamaru had brought down for him; Neji had coaxed the person in the basement into talking to him enough to know some basic things about her. They knew now that her name was Sakura and that she was the same age as Naruto.

For a while now though she'd been quiet, since Neji had asked carefully why she was down there.

"Sakura?" When he got no answer he figured that meant he could go on, "talk to me. You want us to get you out right?"

"Yes," she answered smally.

"Well, then you've gotta talk to me so we can help you, okay? So, I noticed you never asked. Do you want to know our names?"

"We guess," Neji heard the reply come from the other side of the door. Sakura was sitting on the side opposite to Neji, her knees held up tightly to her chest and her arms locked around to secure the position, as she eagerly listened to him speak. She was so excited to have someone so close to helping her out that she hadn't even thought of the names of the guy talking to her and his friends, who she could occasionally hear talk amongst themselves in the background. They seemed nice.

"Okay. I'm Neji Hyuuga. It's a pleasure to be speaking to you." The way he patiently talked to her, Sakura began to wonder if he was always so gentle. "Have you always been here, Sakura?"

She shook her head and then, remembering he couldn't hear her, said, "No, we haven't."

Neji raised his eyebrows, wondering if she always referred to herself as being more than one person. He looked back at Naruto, Shikamaru and Kiba but all they did was shrug helplessly, so he returned his attention to the enclosed girl. "You haven't? How long have you been in there?"

"About seven years now." Sakura suddenly started emitting little, gasping giggles. "That cockroach died three weeks ago. He stopped running around without his head attached two weeks ago. Maybe that spider will scuttle over sometime soon and eat it...or maybe I should feed Mr. Cockroach to Mrs. Spider."

Kiba stared at the locked door from his place on the second last step. He whispered to his friends, "She's nuts. Do you think anyone else is in there?"

Neji turned back around. "Sakura, are you alone in there?"

"I'm not by myself. Oh heavens, no, never alone. I have insects down here like spiders and ants and cockroaches and moths. And I have," she started giggling again, "and I have myself. Though, to be brutally honest, I'm not always a very nice person. No, sometimes I'm quite horrible to poor Sakura."

"Seven fucking years with nobody but bugs," Naruto hissed. "We've got to get her out of there."

"I know that," Neji whispered back. "Sakura, do you have any family?"

"Of course I do! My mom killed daddy years ago and Mom only died a little bit back and then there's my little brother Ryusuke - he's only gone temporarily. He swore he'd be back soon to let me out - as soon as he's done something he needs to do. Or something like that." She broke off in giggles yet again.

"Uh-huh and how long ago did Ryusuke swear this?"

"I'm not sure but definitely over a week ago."

"Fuck!" he exclaimed loudly. Damn, Santa! He probably knew she was in here. That was probably the reason he sold it so cheap! Those real estate agents, they talk like a whole different language. Neji heard him say 'affordable'. Neji heard him say 'attractive'. Neji heard him say 'historic'. There was one thing, however, Neji did **not **hear him say, 'used to be owned by an insane woman who just recently passed but killed her husband and locked her daughter in a basement for 7 years, who happens to, by the way, still live down there.' Yep, Neji was pretty sure that minor detail, of a person locked in his basement never came up in the contract. Unless it was in the fine print. Although, Neji did watch Cat in the Hat several times I guess the valuble lesson learned just never sunk in; read the fine print. His name was **Dr.** Seuss for a reason, you know.

Sakura started letting out more giggles. "Neji Hyuuga just swore, yes he did. He said 'fuck'. We-"

"He says that quite often." Naruto said plainly.

Sakura frowned, not quite placing the voice with a name, her hands and her left ear pressed against the door. 'Who was that?" she demanded.

"Oh sorry," the person spoke again, "its Naruto, Neji's friend."

"Oh...okay. Hey, Neji Hyuuga's friend, do you like ramen?"

"HELL YEAH!...Why?"

"Well, I heard through the grapevine good home made ramen is quite expensive these days but I was going to ask you anyway. Since we both like ramen - meaning I like it and you like it too - I was going to ask you , if it's not too much trouble or not too costly, because I by no means want to put you out of your way, if you could perhaps buy us each one if one day I'm out of my basement."

Naruto smiled softly and walked over to sit next to Neji, on the floor. "It's a deal, Sakura."

"Why thank you, Neji Hyuuga's friend."

"Call me Naruto."

"Okay…Naruto." This made her giggle insanely as well. "We think we like you Naruto."

"I think I like you Sakura," Naruto replied, giving Neji a smug look, as he does oh so very often.

"Well gosh, of course you do. You're talking to the nice Sakura, there's no reason for you not to like her. Neji Hyuuga are you still there?"

"Just 'Neji' please," he said primly.

"Why 'Neji'? Why not 'Hyuuga' or Neji Hyuuga? Or maybe NeHyuugaji...No, I don't think that's appropriate...Tell me... Neji, how big are your feet?"

"Why?" He wanted to know as Kiba, Naruto and Shikamaru laughed.

"Why not, hm? Just tell us please."

"Er...Size 12."

"Ah we got ourselves a little one. What do you say to 'Hyuu-chan?"

"What do you say to 'Neji'?" Neji said, irritated.

"This is exactly what I'd say to this Neji fellow : 'Hello Neji, I'm Sakura- parts one and two. Nice to meet such a man with small feet'."

"Small feet..." Kiba snorted with laughter.

"Now, who are you, stranger? I don't recognize your voice." Sakura squealed.

"I'm Kiba. Damn glad to meetcha!"

"Hello Kiba, I'm Sakura and I know Hyuu-chan and his friend, Naruto, just like you do. I like your name very much -"

"Thank you."

"- it's very pretty."

Kiba spluttered. "Pretty?"

"Yes, very. Now, is there anyone I haven't met?" Sakura asked, obviously over her shy phase and perfectly comfortable around them.

"Yes," Naruto answered. "Chouji, who's not here, and Shikamaru, who's right behind me."

"Hi Sakura."

"Hello Shikamaru. So, do you fine boys think there's any chance of me getting out and about of my basement today? I do believe there are two bowls of ramen with mine and Naruto's names on them and we really should get to them soon, as it's hard to keep communicating with the two over such a large distance."

"Sakura, do you really think you can communicate with ramen?" Naruto asked excitedly

"Of course I do, Naruto."

"Well good on you," Neji said, slightly grinning. "But, here's the thing Sakura: it's getting dark pretty soon and we still have to get full electricity working at my house yet so it's going to be pretty hard getting you out if we can't see a thing we're doing. So, do you mind if we leave you to get a good night's sleep and come back in the morning to get you out?"

"It's okay, I've lived here by myself for ages down here, and one more night won't kill me." She still was a little disappointed.

"Okay. Well, we'll see you in the morning." Neji said as he got up to his "small" feet.

"Bye Sakura," Everyone chorused as they followed after Neji up the stairs.

Sakura crawled away from the door she'd been staring at and talking through for at least an hour and up onto her falling apart bed. She curled up and watched as the slight amount of light that managed to creep into her basement dimmed out before her eyes.

She repeated Neji's words over in her head.

Sleep. Heh. I guess I could use some rest.

_He didn't know._

He might have and might try to hurt me.

_That's preposterous. We'd totally beat him to it. Kick his ass before he'd even think about it._

Really?

_Yes._

Stubborn.

_Hey, if I'm stubborn, you are too_.

Neji sighed. He'd never been so patient with someone in his life.

Naruto smirked slyly, "So she's insane?"

Neji glared at him. "Naruto, she's not insane. She's been locked up for years in her family's basement. She's lonely."

Naruto grinned wider. He knew Neji pretty well. And whenever Neji said: "Naruto, she's not insane. She's been locked up for years in her family's basement. She's lonely" as far as he knew, it meant "Naruto I think I like her as a friend and maybe, in the near future, possibly even more. Hook me up!" Naruto suppressed his giggles, at the thought of Neji saying "Hook me up!" Because, truth be told, Neji was pretty much a prude. He was just another preppy, unjustly rich, snob graduate from St. Stuck Up's school for young Christian students. But then, you can't choose a book by its cover. Besides, he didn't have such a bad cover anyways. His pages were rather spiffy. Okay, enough with the book metaphor. To cut to the point, Neji was single, and Naruto decided, also desperate. So Naruto also decided that ever since _he_ decided Neji was desperate for a girl it would call for desperate measures.

"So you like her, huh?" Naruto sing song-ed happily.

"I haven't even seen her." Neji said grimly, still glaring.

"So? That doesn't matter to you. She sounds really quirky." He looked at Neji tauntingly, but Neji just stared back at him emotionlessly. "You know what, Neji? I don't think you're following your heart." Naruto said in a taunting voice.

Kiba walked in casually and sat down on the couch to observe the argument brewing about Neji's love life. Kiba liked to kick back and enjoy this because he didn't do it often. He was usually in the arguments so he liked to take advantage of the situation and observe one every once in a great while. "Naruto, _following your heart_? That's only on T.V. This is real life."

"Yeah," Neji agreed, "plus, you've tried to set me up with almost every breathing thing you've seen. You even went as far as J-mates."

"You need a girl, Neji. And J-mates is what we had to resort to." Naruto scoffed, after all Neji was the one in desperate need of womanly company even if it had to come from an internet dating service or a girl who neither of them had seen in their entire lives and lived in a basement, and a basement in a morgue at that.

"Wait, Naruto, you tried to set him up on J-mates! As in the place where Jewish people hook up with other Jewish people?" Kiba said.

"That's the one." Naruto nodded happily.

"He's not Jewish, Naruto." Kiba reminded him.

"It was worth a shot."

Neji huffed loudly, "I'm going to bed. You idiots better get some sleep too." He grunted. Neji was just frustrated that his friends thought he was _that _desperate.

"Neji! Where are you going! Neji," Naruto whined as Neji calmly left the room not paying Naruto's pleas any mind, "geez. I come to his creepy ass house to help him fix up the place for a week, no charge or anything, try to set him up with someone and this is the thanks I get!"

"Yeah!" Kiba agreed.

"All I'm asking for is a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T." Naruto sighed.

Kiba thought about it for a moment. "Reece's?" He paused a little more before adding brightly, "As in peanut butter cups? I brought the cereal."

**THE NEXT MORNING**

As soon as everyone woke up they rushed down to the basement. And for once, it wasn't to check if Naruto ate the all emergency rations again, like he had in Neji's old house. Besides, winter was a great deal away and the basement was locked plus, they were all pretty sure even in it's locked state no preservatives were in there. And there was always Foodland.

Everyone followed an excited Naruto who, when reaching the door at the end of the stairs to the basement, handed Shikamaru Sakura's bowl of ramen and pulled out a bobby pin from behind his left ear. They all leant forward, all anticipating what would happen when the basement was accessible. Kiba heard the click of the lock and patted Naruto's shoulder. Naruto had experience. How else did he get in to his house those bazillion times he forgot the key?

"It's open. Good job." Shikamaru said.

Naruto hesitated in turning the knob. "Wait! What if Sakura is some seven foot Frankenfreak?" Everyone glared at him. "Well, I'm just saying."

"Well then stop 'saying' and open the freaking door!" Neji said angrily, losing his patience.

"You did not just say that, Hyuu-chan!" Naruto cried.

"Call me that again and I'll rip your face off. Open the damn door." Neji growled in his cocky little manner.

"Yeah, the three minutes is up, penis fungus. So stop stalling and open up." Kiba snapped at Naruto.

Naruto's eyes widened. He was probably a couple fries short of a happy meal but he wasn't retarded. If two guys were ganging up on him and one was a Hyuuga whose name was Neji, and _the_ Neji Hyuuga, the Neji Hyuuga who hadn't had a date since high school. Naruto was always a bit homophobic and thought that Neji might release his sexual frustration on him if angered enough. Yes, gross and completely false, but such was the thoughts coming from Naruto's mind. But he was half right: it was always safer to pick a fight with the guy who's not Neji. Even if his name happens to be Hulk Hogan.

"What was that, Bitch-boy! Say it again! I dare you! Say it again and watch me kick your sorry ass!" Naruto screamed, walking over to Kiba, grabbing him by his parka type thing.

"I'd like to see you try, Blondie." Kiba growled, trying to brush Naruto's hands off him.

Meanwhile, Neji cooled down and simply pushed open the door. Time stopped. Everyone was quiet again. What they found inside they hadn't expected. Not at all.

_I really hate school. Like, my only solace is knowing what would happen if I were alone with a couple of kids I hate with a chainsaw. Around some kids I'm a bitchy but quiet little asian girl who could potentially bring a gun to school and kill them. Around other kids I'm just another happy go lucky peppy person. It depends entirelyhow I'm feeling, who you are, what you look like(I'm superficial, deal with it), and if you're nice to me. And if I take my pills. I'm one overmedicated asian. Prozac, lunesta, you name it.__ I hate my life. And not just in that normal, teen angst/emo way either. So uh reivew?-Lauren_

**-Preview for next chapter-**

The door was opened for ten minutes and still no one moved, or even made a sound. Finally, Shikamaru said something,

"Wow." He said emotionlessly.

"Holy shit!" Kiba exclaimed.

But I think Naruto best described the mood when he screamed,

"GOOD FUCK! IT SMELLS LIKE BIG FOOT AND HIS FAMILY DECIDED TO TAKE A HUGE FAMILY SHIT TOGETHER IN THIS BASEMENT


	3. Chapter 3

**Handsome, well spoken; his heart can't be broken**

First came the strong and disgusting stench. It smelt as if a family of four had been killed and left down in the basement to decay. Then there was what the room actually looked like. The light bulb must have died a while ago because there was no light source apart from one ugly and half used candle at a girl's feet. All around her and scattered in no particular pattern on the floor were bugs, some dead and some alive. The smell, though, was mostly coming from the area directly around the girl. There was a toilet, which Neji hoped was actually a working one as he looked around, so that wasn't the cause but, from the look of her, the girl hadn't had a decent wash in months, possibly longer.

The door was opened for ten minutes and still no one moved, or even made a sound. Finally, Shikamaru said something,

"Wow." He said emotionlessly.

"Holy shit!" Kiba exclaimed.

But I think Naruto best described the mood when he screamed,

"GOOD FUCK! IT SMELLS LIKE BIG FOOT AND HIS FAMILY DECIDED TO TAKE A HUGE FAMILY SHIT TOGETHER IN THIS BASEMENT_!"_

"You get used to it after a while," The girl, Sakura, said quietly. She was sprawled out on the floor and looking up at them with big, expressive, green eyes, brighter than anything Neji had ever seen.

"Sakura?" Neji asked, starting to walk forward not stopping even when the smell got stronger.

"Yep that's me. Well, it has been for ten minutes, but we won't talk about that. I mean her." She held up her sickly thin arms. "Anyway, can someone help me up? Then you can all tell me your names which I will most likely forget almost straight away upon you telling me."

Shikamaru, Kiba and Naruto looked at each other, none of them knowing what to say to her. Neji simply stood there, one step away from her with everyone else, too busy staring around in disgusted fascination to open his mouth to talk to her.

"Well hello!" Sakura barked, glaring at them now. "I asked one of you to help me up!"

Neji looked over at her and rose an eyebrow at how quickly her tone and expression had changed but walked over to help her up, nonetheless.

"Thank you!" She said happily but quietly. The volume of her voice didn't ever seem to increase at all. She looked up, the top of her head barely reaching Neji's shoulder.

"Let me guess, you're Naruto?" She asked Neji.

"No, I'm Naruto and you're really short." Naruto, stepped in and held his nose.

"Well I used to be the tallest thing in the room. So, who're you?"

"Neji."

"Huh, I wouldn't have guessed. You look more like a 'Kiba'."

Kiba snorted. "No way does he look good enough to have my name!"

"So, you're Kiba?"

"Yes. I would hug you but, and I'm being honest here remember that, you kind of smell. Only not 'kind of' and more 'alot'." He gave her a sheepish smile but she didn't mind hearing the truth. Besides, she was busy inwardly giggling at him. "I think you may need a shower" Kiba finished.

"We think so too."

"I think I should show you to where the bathroom is, then," Neji suggested, placing a hand on her shoulder as he lead her out of the basement with the others following. "Shikamaru can you please go get some clothes you think will fit Sakura from the attic? I'll show her where to clean up and, Naruto and Kiba, could you go and get something to eat for Sakura. Maybe some coffee."

Sakura let out a short and loud laugh which sounded more like a bellow. "Coffee! We would love some coffee!"

"Okay, I'll go do that," Naruto agreed. "I'll give you your ramen when you smell better, Sakura."

Neji noticed how he was smiling rather smally, and blushing ever so slightly, and rolled his eyes.

"Uh-huh," Sakura answered absently, distracted as she looked around. Nothing much had changed.

Slowly she smiled.

As carpenters, transporters, electricians and plumbers came around over the next few days to fix a few problems and to talk to the four men, Sakura sat on the bed in her old bedroom. She didn't leave it once.

Finally, after much debate over who should do it, Neji was pushed by three pairs of hands into the hallway right outside of where Sakura was keeping herself locked up in.

"I fucking hate you, you fucking bastards! Don't expect me to cook for you ungrateful bastards tonight because I might poison it!"

Neji shook his head when Naruto called back, "We appreciate it, Hyuu-chan!" and, running his hands through his chocolate hair, faced the closed door which was painted a chipping off-white color.

What the hell am I meant to say to her! He thought frantically as his gaze travelled unseeingly over all the cracks in the paintwork. 'No offence, Sakura, but we didn't save you from your basement where your crazy fucking Mom locked you up just for you to go and hide in your room. Kind of defeats the purpose, you know'?

He sighed and raised his fist to knock. He didn't know what to expect ; none of them had seen her after she'd closed the bathroom door behind herself to have her first shower in God knows how long. The bowl of ramen had gone though with a little 'thank you' scrawled messily onto the wooden surface of the dining room table which was where Naruto had left the food.

Just check how she is and get out as soon as you can.

"My door opens, you know, but you'll probably have to do more than stare at it." Sakura called.

Neji rolled his eyes but muttered 'right' before trying to turn the doorknob and open the room. Oh come on! You knew it was locked.

"Sakura, I can't open it."

"Well, why not, Mr. Hyuuga? You have opposable thumbs, work them."

"It's kind of locked."

There was a loud amount of giggling and then a shuffling of feet but no reply from the girl inside. Neji got sick of waiting but, when he tried it again, the door swung open when he turned the knob this time. He looked around when entering, hands shoved in his pockets and very quietly humming Drain You under his breath. The furnishings of the room were very simple with a plain simple bed; a huge window with no curtains or blinds; a gold-plated framed mirror, opposite a small wooden desk and chair, on the wall; and a closet. He looked down when the toe of his shoe hit something and saw a pile of books, as high as his knee, set there. Similar piles were all around the room.

Sitting under the desk, in the space where a person's legs would go when sitting in the chair, Sakura cleared her throat as she pushed back some hair and looked over at Neji. He really was a rather pretty specimen.

Neji turned one way and then the other, looking for her. "So, um, how are you?" He was looking directly at the closet.

"Overwhelmed, blinded, anxious, tired, nauseous and I have a headache."

"'Blinded'?"

"It's so much brighter up here than what I'm used to. But the sunsets are pretty and it's not as hot as it is in the basement."

Neji took a step closer to the closet. "Are you scared of me and my friends? I mean we don't know each other but, trust me, we are very nice strangers."

"Scared of you, why would I be-"

"Then you don't like us," Neji concluded. He reached the closet and cocked his head at it's door, hand reaching for the handle. "Because you're not scared of us yet you haven't come down and talked to us since you got out" he opened the closet door and stuck his head inside, "okay. Where are you?"

"Well, since all three of us have finally gathered that I don't currently hold position amongst the musty contents of my wardrobe, I'd say I'm either under the bed or under the desk."

He pulled back the chair from under the desk a little and she scooted closer a little bit. "What the hell are you doing?"

She held up the dictionary she'd been skimming through. "Educating myself. You know, you shouldn't just casually cuss like that."

He gave her a confused look. "But I didn't."

"Not by today's standards, no, but you did say 'hell'." She set down the dictionary and scrambled to get out from under the desk. Neji moved back to allow her more room. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Didn't you have black hair before?"

She pushed both hands through her long,petal colored hair. "Shampoo does wonders, so I'm told. Turns out my natural hair color is pink not black, eh?"

"I like it."

There was an awkward silence as Sakura completely ignored Neji, instead more interested in the two-sided musings in her head, and he tried to think of something to say before quickly exiting. Hands again in pockets, Neji moved to the window and looked out. After awhile, he murmured something too quietly for Sakura to pick up.

She leant forward. "I'm sorry, what?"

"When you were in the basement. Did you miss the view?"

She looked over his shoulder at the clear, unclouded blueness. "Yeah I did, actually. I miss the ocean too even though I never learnt how to swim. But, I figure, since I'm considerably smarter than most fish that it can't be that hard, right?"

"Or you could be like me. 'God didn't give me gills, well, fuck him. I didn't want to swim anyways'."

Sakura gave him an admonishing look but it didn't last very long before she giggled a little at the seriousness of his tone and expression despite what he's said.

"It is a bit discriminatory, isn't it? I mean, I was born to fly but He decides no. Now I have to watch all the moron birds have all the fun."

"What about ostriches?"

"Ugly monsters that they are, they don't count. They probably don't even care that they can't fly, they're too busy gloating over how they're taller than all the other aves."

Neji grinned inwardly but didn't know what to say, instead turning to look back out of the window.

A while later, Sakura asked, "So why did you come in?"

"We were all worried about you. You're up here all by yourself with no food and water and stuff to do."

"If she doesn't make too much noise I can manage to sneak out for supplies every night."

"Sakura, we leave here every evening, you don't need to sneak."

"Okay, I'll remember that if I can remember to." She studied her bare toes. Her toe nails were too long but , at the very least, she was clean now.

"You're disrupting my education."

Neji looked at her, now studying the floorboards, and leant forward. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"Um, you're kind of disrupting my learning."

"You want me to leave you alone with your dictionary?"

She nodded. "Yes please. I mean, if it's not too much trouble. And not that I'm being rude - I'm actually alot ruder than this in normal circumstance. So you shoul-"

"Sakura, don't worry about it, I'm gone." He walked over to the door, which he'd left open and Sakura had been wanting to demand him to close. "So, uh, I'll see you downstairs sometime soon?"

"Um," she hesitated, not making eye contact. They seemed like nice enough guys but they could turn out to be bug-hating assholes who laughed at her for having written out the entire Oxford Dictionary a total of eight times. And those bugs were Sakura's only friends for years, she was very fond of them, "maybe."

"But don't count on it, right?"

She nodded and he nodded back before leaving and closing the door on his way out.

As soon as he was gone, Sakura crouched down on all fours infront of her bed from where she pulled out a pile of paper. Turning to a page which was blank, apart from the scribbled definition of 'phylum' in the top left hand corner, she picked up one of those old, yellow lead pencils, you know one of those ones with the pink rubber on the end, and started a new sketch.


End file.
